Archive for November 26, 2011

A little over week ago I started preparing for two events that took place last Saturday. One at a local supermarket. My first “appearance”! And, the other, a meeting/party for a local group.

Last Wednesday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the meeting/party. The cooking consisted of making two kinds of ground “beef,” one for tacos and one for baked ziti, “chicken” strips for the tacos, “sausage,” also for the ziti, and…. a huge amount of par-boiled ziti. Pots and pans galore on the stove, and then in the sink. Food delivered, and ready for Round Two on Thursday!

Thursday I shopped for, cooked for, and delivered the vegetarian food for the supermarket “appearance.” The supermarket was nice enough to pack all of the items for me so I could just pick them up, which was helpful. And then, the schlepping and cooking began.

Sauteeing vegetables, and ground “beef” for Shepherd’s Pie, assembling 6 pies, topping with mashed potatoes, wrapping…. Once again, pots and pans bubbling on the stove, and then into the sink. There was an assembly line of pie making and wrapping, and then, delivery! And pot and pan cleaning! Whew!

The supermarket appearance started slowly on Saturday, as nothing was set up when I arrived. I laughed a bit, to myself. First “appearance,” huh? lol Once the table was ready and Shepherd’s Pie was being served, it was SO much fun to talk to shoppers, and feed them! The shoppers ran the gamut from vegetarians to men who never expected to be eating anything “Yuk, vegetarian?” But, try it they did, and they liked it! Score!

After a short break at home (had to feed and walk the dogs, of course) it was off to the meeting/party. Once again, SO much fun to talk to everyone, and watch vegetarians and non-vegetarians, alike, polish off all of the tacos and baked ziti! Two for two!

And now, here we are a couple of days after Thanksgiving. The big decision, “a turkey sibstitute, or skip ‘meat’ altogether?” was resolved quickly. I wound up with “chicken,” stuffing, veggies, the best mushroom gravy I’ve ever made, cranberry sauce, assorted desserts, the works. And what I’ll remember the best is that yummy mushroom gravy, made from scratch, no recipe. My own concoction! Yum!

Tomorrow….. is going to be an interesting day! Spent the last two days preparing vegetarian fare for a supermarket “appearance” tomorrow, and a combination meeting/party tomorrow night.

Vegetarians at both events, including the Regional Manager of the supermarket chain, and I understand she’s really interested to see what we’ve come up with. Six Shepherd’s Pies, actually, which caused there to be leftover mashed potatoes on the stove last night. BIG problem. Yes, I ate some…. and finally tossed the rest…. or I’d have been in danger of eating even more!

Veggie food for the evening event is “chicken” and “beef” Tacos, and “sausage” and “beef” Baked Ziti. Of course, that’s among the other foods at the party but it will be interesting to see if everyone eats the Tacos and Ziti!

And, of course, the “appearance” at the supermarket is a first. My first time as “Pretty Veggie.” Wish me luck!

As they say in the Old Country (very Old Country), “Le’at, le’at.” In Hebrew, slowly, slowly.

Thanks to the help of friends, I finally fixed a couple of glitches and got a basic Facebook page up! Yippee! Look it up under Pretty Veggie or http://on.fb.me/vOTs2y for now.

Particular thanks to Erick Hagstrom, erick.hagstrom@hagstrommedia.com , who fixed a couple of website glitches and added “optimization,” the website is running more smoothly, and we’ll soon be making a few more tweaks.

The ingredients for “Chicken” Pot Pie are still calling me from the kitchen and I’m hoping for a bit more cooperation from the B12 I just started taking, before plunging into that new recipe. (No one told me I’m supposed to be taking B12!)

AND, I still have arrangements to make re a possible cooking show for PBS (SO excited!), and a veggie catering gig and “appearance” at a local supermarket are both coming up in a couple of weeks…. on the same day! When it rains, it pours! lol

Please take a look at the new Facebook page and let me know what you think.

Hi! I’m Mindy…

That’s the sound of a New York City girl who’s been around the world and back, became a vegetarian, came up with an idea, and decided to get her act together and tell you about it.

I’ve traveled, lived, and worked in a number of locations around the world, from the Middle East to the Pacific, speak some Hebrew, a bit of French and German, and pleasantries in a number of other languages, love many different types of foods, and have puttered around with them all. (I even knew what harissa was when Alton mentioned it on “Next Food Network Star”!) ....Read More

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